Huge explosion shakes Afghan capital

Kabul, June 30: A huge explosion has shaken the Afghan
capital Kabul, sending a plume of black smoke over the city's western suburbs.

The cause was not immediately known. The deputy chief of Kabul police, Sayed
Gulagha has confirmed it was an explosion and says it appears to have occurred
near a busy shopping district.

The explosion comes as government employees are leaving their offices at the
end of the working day, which is shorter during the Ramadan month of fasting.

It comes a week after an audacious attack on the nation's parliament, which
highlighted the ability of insurgents, who have been fighting to overthrow the
Kabul government for almost 14 years, to enter the highly fortified capital to
stage deadly attacks.